Conversations Side Story 1
by BobR
Summary: In which Ryoko meets a new friend and finds an old enemy


Conversations: 

Disclaimer 

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC. I don't own any rights to them at all nor do I want to, I just want to borrow them for a while. Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders. 

***** 

Conversations 

Side Story 1 

In a Temple 

***** 

The sun shone brightly down upon him as Katsuhito made his way to the old shrine. He remembered the last time he was here, almost 300 years before, when the shrine was dedicated. He had heard that it had been abandoned during the war, even though no bombs ever fell near here. He couldn't really blame the priests though, he himself had been safe enough up in his beloved mountains, watching over Ryoko's crypt, but as a Juraian warrior he had known fear in battle before. No one really wants to die before they're ready. Thinking of Ryoko, he wondered where she was. He knew that she had followed him here, probably at Tenchi's request. Now that she, Tenchi and his sister Ayeka had things mostly worked out between them, life at the Masaki shrine was returning to its usual peaceful quiet. Quiet being a relative term with five of the most powerful beings in the galaxy living there. He shook his head. Strange how thoughts wander if you don't keep them under control. 

As he approached the short flight of steps leading to the temple gate, he felt a presence in a tree outside the fence. Although there was no real malice in it, he seemed to know that whatever it was wanted the current residents of the temple gone, the sooner the better. Since it wasn't directed at him personally and the being producing it appeared to be very powerful, he chose to ignore it for now and continue up the stairs. Upon reaching the top, he bowed, clapped twice, then knocked. It never hurt to be polite and he could sense divine influence within the walls. 

"Yes! I'll be right there!" came a pleasant voice in oddly accented Japanese. 

He heard footsteps approach the gate and the portal swung open to reveal a young woman. She had sandy brown hair that fell almost to her knees and bright, cheerful eyes that reminded him of Sasami. On her forehead was a mark shaped like an elongated diamond and two similar marks were present on he cheeks. 

"Ah, Lord Yosho. We weren't expecting you so soon. But please come in, I'll make us some tea." 

"You know me then. May I assume that you are one of the three sisters? The Norns of old Norse legend?" 

"Yes, I am Verthandi," she said in perfect High Juraian, again with an odd accent. "Known as Belldandy here in Japan. But you can just call me Bell if you prefer. Everyone else does." She smiled sweetly at him. 

"I thought it was pronounced Verdandi, and please, can we use Japanese? I've been away from Jurai for so long…" 

"Of course my lord Yosho, but do come in. And Verthandi or Verdandi, either is proper, but I would really prefer to be called Belldandy if we're to speak in Japanese." 

As he passed through the gate, he felt his disguise slip away until he was once more in his true form. He thought that it must be because of the power in this place. He heard a small gasp from a different tree outside the shrine and knew where Ryoko had gotten to. Heh. He would have to warn her not to tell Tenchi or Ayeka about his illusion, at least not until he was ready for them to know. 

"Oh. I see Ryoko is with you as well." Belldandy had also heard Ryoko's gasp. 

"Yes, but I'm not supposed to know," he whispered. 

"Ok, she can keep Mara company for a while, they should get along well together. We'll invite them both in for snacks later." 

"Mara?" Yosho asked. 

"Yes, our resident demon. I grew up with her, although she's really a friend of Urd's now. She causes trouble sometimes and would really prefer for all of us to just pack up and go home. But we can't do that, so she just sits out in the trees and watches us, trying to come up with a way to make us leave. Sometimes her schemes are very amusing, but she can be dangerous." 

"Ah, the presence I felt in the other tree. So Ryoko can't really hurt her then?" 

"I'd be more worried about Ryoko, Mara is a demon first class, after all." 

Yosho chuckled. "Ryoko can look out for herself, at least your sister thinks so." 

The Norn looked at him with an odd smile. "Urd never could keep her mouth shut." 

"Don't worry, the secret's safe with me. Speaking of Urd, she's the one I came to see. Is she here?" 

"No, she's out somewhere. Probably causing some trouble that I'll have to correct later. I'm the only one home today, perhaps I can be of help?" 

"I don't know. Do you know why Urd was sent to visit Ryoko several weeks ago?" Yosho inquired. 

"I think that's something you need to ask Tsunami. Am I right, cousin?" 

Tsunami faded into view next to Belldandy. This time the gasp was heard from Mara's tree. Yosho heard Ryoko teleport out of her tree and phase back in above Mara. Then he heard a rustling of leaves and the hiss of an energy sword coming into existence. 

"I think we had all better go inside. It may get a bit noisy out here real soon." Yosho smiled at the two goddesses. 

Tsunami giggled, "I believe you're right." 

***** 

Ryoko watched from the top of a nearby building as Tenchi's grandfather approached the shrine. She felt a great power from within the old buildings. When Katsuhito neared the gate, she teleported into a nearby tree to better keep an eye on him. He didn't leave the Masaki shrine very often and never traveled this far away; Tenchi was worried about him. The old priest had been acting strangely ever since… ever since… She heard him knock on the gatepost and heard a young woman answer. Ryoko chuckled. So that's it. The old man still has it in him. Good for him. she thought. But when she saw the markings on the woman's face she knew. This was one of Urd's sisters. Katsuhito had come here to find Urd. Damn that Washu! She must have found out through the link and then told him. Ooh. When I get my hands on her… Energy began to crackle from her fingertips. 

The priest stepped through the gate and Ryoko let out an involuntary gasp. Instead of an old man, there was now a young warrior, still dressed in a priest's robes. Intellectually she had known that Yosho and Katsuhito were the same person, but she never expected this! He was supposed to be old! An old Yosho didn't bother her. This young Yosho brought back a rush of memories, none of them good. She looked away from the two in the courtyard, trying to regain her composure. Whatever his true form, he was still her fiancé's grandfather; she would just have to deal with it somehow. 

The two below continued to talk. Ryoko couldn't make out the words, but then she didn't really have to, she wasn't here to eavesdrop. Tenchi had asked her to make sure his grandfather was all right and that's just what she was going to do. He was probably safe enough in the presence of a goddess; so she'd just wait in the tree until he was done, then follow him home. She needed the time anyway, to deal with the concept of a young Yosho. She felt the unique energy signature that was Tsunami form below her. Two goddesses. He'll be fine. Then she heard a noise from a tree a little distance away. Another watcher. This might be fun. She teleported into the other tree, above the other person. 

***** 

Another goddess. And this one isn't even from Earth. She's Juraian for cryin' out loud. And a Juraian warrior disguised as a Shinto priest? What do those witches think they're doing calling in outside help? Are they that afraid of me? Mara wondered. She heard a hissing noise and felt the tree shake as a weight settled on a branch above her. She looked up. 

***** 

Ryoko looked down at the top of a woman's head. Her hair color was a dirty blonde, and the clothes she was wearing… wow! She'd thought Urd's outfit that day was trashy, but this outfit made Urd's clothes look like a conservative business suit. It was making her hot just looking at the woman. The other looked up. Ryoko almost fell off the branch. She had markings on her face. Two widely spaced marks on her forehead and matching cheek marks. Another goddess? Wait, what was it that Urd had said? Oh yes, a demon had those types of marks. A demon! The woman below bared a set of fangs and growled. Ryoko materialized her energy sword. 

"Who dares disturb the demon Mara?" Mara snarled at the intruder. The other person grinned back, revealing her own small fangs. 

"Ryoko. My name's Ryoko. And right now I need to let off some steam. Let's play, shall we? Just you and me." Ryoko replied with a sneer. She formed her red and black battle suit and flew off, closely followed by an upset and very puzzled Mara. 

***** 

Inside the house, standing in the kitchen making tea, Belldandy felt Mara's presence leave the tree. There they go. I hope they have fun and don't hurt each other too badly. Play nice, cousins. she thought to herself. 

In another room, Tsunami and Yosho looked at each other as they heard the sizzle of Ryoko's passage into the air. 

"Please let her be all right," Yosho muttered. "Tenchi'll never forgive me if anything happens to her." 

"She'll be fine," Tsunami said with a smile. "Now, what was it you wanted to ask me?" 

***** 

Ryoko was enjoying herself immensely. She didn't know about the demon though, Mara was looking a little frazzled. Too bad for her, she thought and launched another attack. 

Massive amounts of energy and plasma continued to crackle back and forth between the two, high up in the air. 

***** 

Belldandy brought a teapot and two cups back into the room where Yosho and Tsunami were waiting. She apologized to Tsunami, "I didn't bring any for you cousin, since you can't enjoy it in your astral form. You should have appeared in your corporeal form." 

"That's all right," Tsunami said. "Having Sasami show up here to have tea with you and Yosho would have disturbed Ryoko even more. She thinks of Sasami as her little sister you know." 

Belldandy poured a cup of tea for Yosho and then served herself. 

Tsunami continued, "As I was about to tell Yosho, I asked Urd to talk to Ryoko because there were some things that needed to be accomplished to help Jurai fulfill its destiny. I can't talk about them with anyone who is a part of that destiny." 

"A binding," Belldandy stated. 

Tsunami nodded her head. "Yes." 

"But you're talking to me about it right now," Yosho responded. 

"That's because your part in Jurai's destiny was finished when you allowed Tenchi to free Ryoko from the crypt. Any part you continue to play will be small; but because time is so mutable, that may change in the future. It's unclear at this distance, but for as far as I can see into it, Yosho may finally settle down to a quiet life, knowing that his job has been well done." 

"If I may be so bold then, what exactly is Jurai's destiny?" Yosho asked. 

"That," said Tsunami, holding a finger to her mouth, "is a secret." Then she giggled. 

"Cousin, you know he doesn't like to be mocked. You're just setting yourself up as a target for one of his pranks," Belldandy scolded her. 

"Bell, what can he do to me? He can't even enter this dimension unless one of us locals invites him. Besides, he has his hands full just trying to guide that mismatched group he's so concerned about anyway." 

Yosho sipped his tea and listened. `He' was very confused. 

***** 

Several hours later Ryoko and Mara were both exhausted and well scorched as they floated high above the city. Early on it had become obvious to both that they wouldn't be able to really hurt each other, although Ryoko would definitely be ahead in points if anyone had cared to keep score. 

"God! I haven't had this much fun in weeks!" Ryoko shouted joyously to the world at large. Ever since Ayeka and I stopped fighting over Tenchi. To Mara she said, "Well, that certainly felt good, but now I'm tired. Let's go have a drink together and wind down a bit." 

Mara looked at her oddly. "Where're we gonna go lookin' like this?" She pointed to Ryoko and then to herself. 

Ryoko looked. All of their clothing was tattered, torn and burned. Large holes were everywhere and what little remained of their clothing showed a bit too much female flesh for most respectable (and quite a few disreputable) establishments. She looked back at Mara and shrugged. "Well, we could go and see if Urd's home. She should be good for a few laughs. Maybe we could even do some karaoke later." 

"Um, Ryoko, I don't know if it's occurred to you, but I can't enter the shrine. They have wards up to prevent it." 

"Have you tried just knocking on the door?" Ryoko asked. 

"Knocking?" Mara was puzzled. 

"Yeah. It works for me. Let's try it and see what happens." 

They flew back to the shrine side by side. After landing outside the gate, Mara kept a lookout for passersby while Ryoko bowed, clapped twice and then knocked politely on the gate. 

Urd answered the knock. "Oh wow! Look at you two! Get in here quick before someone sees you." She snatched Ryoko's arm. Ryoko grabbed Mara as Urd dragged her into the courtyard. The gate slammed shut behind them. 

Mara looked around the courtyard in wonderment. Hey! It worked! It really worked. I'm inside. But I'm too damned tired to take advantage of it now. she thought. 

Urd took them into the house and pointed down the hall. "The bath's that way. I think I have some clothes that'll fit Mara. Ryoko, I believe you can take care of yourself?" 

Ryoko nodded and the two moved off down the hall toward the indicated room, Ryoko pointedly avoiding looking at Yosho as she passed him. 

"Now," Urd said to herself, "where can I get some of the good sake. Those two look like they need it. Hmm. I know K's tapped out. Megumi won't be around for hours; she has classes this evening. I wonder…" 

She heard someone clear their throat behind her. She turned around to find Yosho standing there with several bills in his hand. "Here. I believe I passed a small store right around the corner?" 

"Yeah! Thanks! I'll pay you back someday." She scooted from the house, grabbing the money as she went by. 

"You already have. Several times over." Yosho called softly after her as she disappeared in a cloud of dust. He turned to Belldandy who was standing in a doorway. "I have to be going. It seems I make Ryoko uncomfortable in this form and I can't maintain the old priest persona within this shrine." 

Belldandy smiled and nodded. "I understand." 

"I'll tell Tenchi that Ryoko's fine, she'll just be late getting home," he continued. "You will see that she gets home safely, won't you?" 

Belldandy nodded again, "I am a goddess after all, aren't I?" 

As he passed through the gate, Katsuhito turned back to Belldandy and bowed. "Thank you for the tea and conversation. Even though I didn't get all the answers I wanted, I enjoyed my afternoon out. We may have to do this again; I would like to meet your other sister, Skuld. From what I understand, she has a lot in common with our Little Washu." 

A big smile and another nod. More than you can know my lord Yosho. More than you can possibly know… Belldandy thought as she watched the old man walk slowly down the steps. 

***** 

The End 

***** 

Authors Notes 

Well, unlike the first part, this one was a crossover from the start. It's also setting up some events for the second part, although you don't have to read this to understand that. Part II's about half written and since I write as the mood strikes me and with no particular order to the chapters when I write (I tie them all together at the end; I've got chapters 2, 4 and 5 about done for Part II with 1 and 3 started, out of I don't know how many total yet), it may be a few weeks before Part II is actually finished to my satisfaction. I still have some of the dynamics of the Tenchi-Ryoko-Ayeka relationship to work out first. 

BobR 

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